The World of Kanako

It is very violent. More than that, it is disturbing, depressing and desperate. We follows our protagonist, former detective and divorcée Akikazu Fujishima (Koji Yakusho) as he searches for his missing daughter Kanako (Nana Komatsu) and learns about her secret life. Through this search, different dark sides of the society emerges which make you antsy in your seat.

The more we go along, the more disturbing and depressing the movie seems to portray. None of the characters are lovable. All the institutions: family, police, and schools are malfunctioning. The movie depicts a sick society which appears to be OK but is buried with lots of problems where people are betraying each other and families are and non-communicative and destructive.

All characters are pathetic in different ways though they may not be innately devilish. Somehow something goes wrong and everything falls into this big chaos or trap where people do not know how to show their care or use the wrong way to show their love which end up causing more damage as they resort to violence and betrayal.

A very sad movie that paints a tragic side of Japanese culture, or can it happen in any culture, regardless of economic development? People yearning for love, care, respect and recognition and identification, but what they meet is betrayal, ignorance, bullying, and violence. Very twisted characters and relationships that make you feel so disappointed and horrified with humanity.

On the surface, or in the beginning, you see angels who seem to be your revelation. Kanako appears to be such an angel. But not until his cop father starts to look into her disappearance does he realize how much he understands/misunderstands his daughter, ditto his wife and vice versa. Similar misperception happens at school and in the police station.

Perhaps it just serves as a warning sign to us all: in many ways the people around us could just be like that if we hit the wrong button. Look at all the random shootings in the US. And the terrorist attacks. We would not know when they will turn against us and we just have to constantly remind ourselves to be alert.

Very good acting of the cast in creating a haunting atmosphere. I would not like to befriend with any of the characters.

Amazing editing. SO many storylines working together to make the scene. The movie keeps getting intense.

The premise may be minimal, a man searching for his missing daughter discovers she's not what she seems, but the execution is totally over the top.

For starters, it's hyper stylized. The non-linear narrative is frantically edited, at times hard to follow, but always keeping you on your toes. It wilfully mixes genres, going from rogue cop action to teen drama to gory horror to Japanese dance party to art house at the drop of a hat. The music struggles to keep up with the shifting moods, often coming across as a parody of the various styles it emulates. It occasionally aims for the thrift store score of a Tarantino flick, but pales in comparison to his masterful curation.

In a interesting creative choice, the central protagonist is an absolutely loathsome character. He acts as a catalyst for the onslaught of ultraviolence that drives the intrigue of the film, which is as captivating as it is problematic. It unnecessarily pushes boundaries on sexual violence towards women while numbing the viewer to the excessive savagery. The film does eventually wear out it's welcome by the final leg as the seesaw between physical brutality and emotional devastation can prove exhausting over the two hour run-time.

Flaws aside, it's a totally insane ride both for the depraved subject matter and the gonzo delivery. Fully recommended for viewers with strong stomachs and off the wall tastes.

I think my headline pretty much says it all but this is a movie that infuses style, gore, cartoon, and fantasy to tell a story full of rape, violence, domestic abuse and pedophilia. A father searches for his daughter but what he finds lands him in the middle of a war between the mob, filled with police corruption, and school bullying. And this is not a spoiler, nor does it scratch the surface. It is a ridiculously creative film but the plot and characters just are not redeemable and that impacts how enjoyable the film is. And this is coming from someone who loves Moebius and Von Trier movies, but I don't find much to grasp onto here.

A father searching for his kid, very similar style like Confessions (2010) which i've just realized, share the same director Tetsuya Nakashima. Nana Komatsu the cutie playing Kanako's nice to watch, also the main lead, Koji Yakusho playing her dad acted well as a bad person. It goes back and forth between 2 characters at different times. Some parts are very distasteful but they keep the suspense & mystery going, it got me interested enough to stay watching till the end to find out what happens next. The resolution of the story's quite beautiful too. This film's unexpectedly bonkers.

So yeah, most certainly if you really enjoy mystery suspense films with some craziness particularly like Confessions (2010) or Oldboy (2003) , i think you may appreciate this flick too.

7/10